NASA wants to develop a 3D printer to print pizza. Yes, really. NASA has ponied up cash to Anjan Contractor of Texas-based Systems and Materials Research to develop a 3D printer that will print actual food.

They've given 125,000 to the 3D pizza printer project. The innovation would mean that astronauts have increased food choices, eliminate waste, and improve nutrition. It could even end world hunger someday if it is widely implemented.

Contractor, a mechanical engineer, has already proved that he can take on the task-he's created a 3D printer that can print chocolate chips onto a cookie. (Watch a VIDEO of this below).

Currently, food sent to space must have a 17-year shelf life. In Contractor's printer, ingredients and nutrients would be put into powdered forms. They would be combined to create food that has similar structure, taste, and nutrition, but increase the shelf life of the food to approximately 30 years.

The six-month grant is from NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program. Contractor will build and test the printer. He thinks he will first print the dough, then as it is rising, the other ingredients would be printed to be added.

This isn't the first 3D food out there, as incredible as the idea sounds. Last month, scientists in the Netherlands successfully printed a burger-and the cost was a whopper, at $325,000. But some predict that the technology will become less expensive and that 3-D printers will become a household item. It would allow people to receive personalized nutrition, send recipes to others' printers, and print enough food to support the planet despite overpopulation and pollution.

"I think, and many economists think, that current food systems can't supply 12 billion people sufficiently," says Contractor. "So we eventually have to change our perception of what we see as food."

Which may mean that insects, mealworms, seaweed, and other delicious ingredients are powdered then printed on demand. Tasty.

See a video of the chocolate chip cookie prototype below.